The Girl in the Ice: A gripping serial killer thriller (Detective Erika Foster crime thriller novel Book 1) by Robert Bryndza Read Free Book Online Page B

shop with a barrier of expensive buggies.
    Peterson and Moss bought coffee and sandwiches, then came over to the table to join Erika.
    ‘Look, thanks for stepping in there; I don’t know what happened. My judgement was off,’ explained Erika, feeling embarrassed.
    ‘No probs,’ said Peterson, tearing open a sandwich box and taking a huge bite.
    ‘Diana Douglas-Brown was out of order, but then again, it wasn’t the best day of her life, was it?’ agreed Moss, taking a bite of her sandwich.
    ‘Yeah, but I shouldn’t have . . . Anyway. What else can you tell me?’ asked Erika. She waited for a moment whilst they both finished chewing.
    ‘Simon and Diana don’t know why Andrea was in South London,’ said Moss. ‘She’d arranged to go the cinema with David and Linda, the brother and sister. They waited for her at the Odeon in Hammersmith, but she never showed up.’
    ‘Were the brother and sister at home?’
    ‘Yeah. David, he was asleep upstairs. Lady Diana didn’t want to wake him.’
    ‘Wake him? Isn’t he in his twenties?’ asked Erika.
    ‘David had been awake since the early hours, apparently,’ said Moss. ‘They’d been taking it in turns to watch the phones throughout the night, in case Andrea called. It seems she’s gone missing before.’
    ‘When? Do we have a record?’
    ‘No. They never reported it. A couple of years back she went AWOL over a long weekend. Turned out she went off to France with some guy she’d met in a bar. She came back when she maxed out her credit card.’
    ‘Did you get a name of the person she ran off with?’
    ‘Yeah, a Carl Michaels. He was a student at the time. It was nothing dodgy. A dirty weekend, with the added bonus that Andrea had a platinum Visa card,’ said Moss.
    ‘Did you see the sister, Linda?’ asked Erika.
    ‘She came in with a tray of tea. We thought she was the maid. Looks very different to Andrea: frumpy, a bit fat. She works at the mother’s florist-s,’ said Peterson.
    ‘And how did she react to the news?’ asked Erika.
    ‘She dropped the tray, although . . .’ Moss hesitated.
    ‘What?’ asked Erika, wishing again that she didn’t have to hear this all second-hand.
    Moss looked at Peterson.
    ‘It seemed a bit cod, the way she reacted,’ he said.
    ‘Cod?’ asked Erika.
    ‘You know, like bad acting. I don’t know. People react in all sorts of weird ways. The whole family seems a bit screwed up if you ask me,’ said Peterson.
    ‘Then again, whose family isn’t screwed up?’ added Moss. ‘Plus, you throw money into the mix and everything gets heightened.’
    A phone began to ring, and it took a few moments before Erika realised it was hers. She pulled it out and answered. It was Isaac, telling her that the bad weather had slowed everything right down. The results of the autopsy would be ready in the morning.
    ‘I really wanted them to ID the body tonight,’ said Erika, when she came off the phone.
    ‘It could work in your favour. It’ll give Sir Simon a chance to cool off,’ said Peterson.
    ‘Did he say anything else?’ asked Erika.
    ‘Yeah, he wants Sparks back on the case,’ said Moss.
    They carried on chewing in silence. It was now dark. Car headlights crawled past, illuminating the incessant snow falling outside.

8
    E rika , Moss, and Peterson arrived back at Lewisham Row just after seven pm. They went straight to the incident room, which was full, the police officers waiting expectantly to share the day’s findings. Erika sloughed off her long leather jacket and went to the huge bank of whiteboards lining the back of the room.
    ‘Okay, everyone. I know it’s been a long day, but what have we got?’
    ‘How did you get on when you met the family? How did Sir Simon take to you, DCI Foster?’ smirked Sparks, leaning back in his chair.
    On cue, Chief Superintendent Marsh pulled open the door to the incident room. ‘Foster. A word.’
    ‘Sir, I’m just briefing everyone on the day’s events . . .’
    ‘Okay.